Posts tagged with "Citi Bike":

We hope you’ve stretched your hamstrings—there have been a lot of developments in U.S. bike sharing programs lately, and we’re taking another whirl through them now.
Although not without hang-ups, New York’s Citi Bike has at least not killed anyone yet. People love to joke about clueless tourists riding on the sidewalk, or on heavy-traffic avenues, or “salmoning” the wrong way down one-way streets — that’s true in Chicago as well as New York — but the fact that no bikeshare has so far produced little to no traffic carnage should come as no surprise, writes Charles Komanoff for Streetsblog.
Crunching the numbers, Komanoff points out “for each day in 2012, all NYC cyclists racked up 16 times as many miles as have Citi Bikers on each day to date.” So while Citi Bike ridership has exceeded expectations, it’s still only a small bump in the city’s total bike ridership. The bikes themselves could be a contributing factor, too — they aren’t racing bikes, and crowds of bikers further leaden their slow pace. The naturally lower car speeds in popular Citi Bike areas of Manhattan and Brooklyn may also play a role.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, a proposed bikeshare system was stymied by existing restrictions on street furniture advertising. Smaller systems may move forward in some of L.A.’s municipal fiefdoms — Long Beach and Fullerton are apparently moving ahead, while West Hollywood and Santa Monica are conducting reviews. For now, though, what was once proposed as the nation's second biggest bike sharing program seems to have hit the brakes.
Instead Chicago’s Divvy bike share is poised to become the largest such program in North America after announcing the addition of another 75 stations. Divvy already has 300 stations, with plans to add 100 more in 2014 (the additional 75 brings it to a total of 475). Federal funding enabled the $3 million expansion. CDOT also announced that it has applied for $3 million in state money to fund another 75 stations, which would bring the grand total to 550 stations.
“As Divvy expands into more neighborhoods, and we build a 650-mile bikeway network throughout our communities, Chicago is quickly becoming the best biking city in North America,” said Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein in a press release.
It will be one of Klein’s last as Chicago’s transportation commissioner — he announced his resignation effective at the end of the month. Klein oversaw Divvy’s development and implementation, and was known for riding his bike to work. Sustainable transportation advocates told Streetsblog Klein’s successor will have big shoes to fill.

Now that Citi Bikes are taking over the streets of New York City, the NYC Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is getting ready to pave the way for a new bike path. The Daily News reported that the NYCDOT plans on creating a new dedicated bike lane on the Pulaski Bridge, the connection between Greenpoint and Long Island City, by 2014. Currently pedestrians and cyclists share a crowded path, but soon a single traffic lane will be turned into a bike path. An engineering study of the bridge will include this addition and be unveiled to the Community Boards in Queens and Brooklyn in the next few months. (Photo: Courtesy Newyorkshitty)

The big biking news this week is that the first phase of New York City's Citi Bike bike share system will finally launch on May 27th to program members (and to everyone else the next week), and New Yorkers' enthusiasm (and a little controversy) is mounting. Some New Yorkers, over 8,000 according to Transportation Commissioner Sadik-Kahn (with more than 4,000 of them in the first 24 hours), could not wait to start pedaling and have already signed up for annual memberships. Meanwhile, malcontents from across the City have spoken up in attempts to stop Citi Bike from rolling onto their blocks.
Following initial delays from a malfunctioning electronic system, last fall's Hurricane Sandy caused damage to some of the docking stations stored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, forcing the DOT to delay and downsize the first phase of the program from 420 stations to 330 around Brooklyn and Manhattan. Once the second and third phases are rolled out, however, there will be a total of 600 stations and 10,000 bikes available throughout New York City, rounding out what will be North America’s largest bike share system. Not only will the system provide healthy transportation alternatives for thousands of New Yorkers, but it will also create 170 jobs and generate $36 million in economic activity annually, the NYC DOT claimed in a press release.
Despite general enthusiam for the program, a few disgruntled citizens have been stirring up controversy throughout City. One outspoken Fort Greene resident recently pasted fliers on newly installed docking stations, claiming that Citi Bank advertising and commercial activity have no place landmarked residential blocks. In nearby Brooklyn Heights, the co-op at 150 Joralemon Street is bringing a lawsuit to the DOT for blocking their garbage collection. Meanwhile in TriBeCa, the New York Post reported that a lone restaurateur held a street-side sit-in to protest the installation of a bike station in front of his French Bistro. In the West Village, a co-op on Bank Street filed suit against the City after a station was installed directly in front of its entrance, citing it as a threat to public safety. While the suit was dropped, part of the bike rack was removed and replaced by a mysterious, massive stone bollard, WNYC reported. City Comptroller John Liu has also raised safety concerns, arguing for mandatory helmet laws in a press release. Liu also raised the issue that the bike share program could result in an increase of legal claims against the City, but overall, his message was positive. Bike advocates have been shooting down criticism of the program through social media, and the Brooklyn Spoke blog launched the tongue-in-cheek Bike Share Criticism Challenge taking aim at the most common criticisms.
During the first week of operation, only those with a 95$ annual membership will be able to ride, but by June 2 daily and weekly passes will also be available. Check the station map to find the bike share station nearest you, and the price guide to see you’re your ride is going to cost you.

New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) confirmed today what many had feared: flooding damage from Hurricane Sandy has indeed delayed New York's beleaguered Citi Bike bike share system. As AN noted last month, electrical components of the Citibike docking stations were damaged while in storage in the Brooklyn Navy Yard along the East River. The initial rollout, now scheduled for May 2013, will include at least 5,500 bikes and 293 stations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, later expanding to 7,000 bikes by the end of 2013. The final goal is to have 10,000 bikes and 600 stations across the city.
The bike share system was originally set to launch in July 2012, later pushed to August 2012, and then to March 2013 as vendor Alta Bike Share sorts out computer software problems. Hurricane Sandy pushed that launch date back again to May 2013. According to a statement put out by NYC DOT, the $41 million in private money secured to fund the bike share system has not been impacted by the delays. About two thirds of the bike share system had been in storage at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, some of which will require new electrical components and refurbishing.
“DOT has worked around the clock to restore vital transportation links following the storm and that includes putting Citi Bike on the road to recovery,” DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said in a statement. “Despite the damage, New York will have the nation’s largest bike share system up and running this spring.”
Many other cities across the country are also in the process of launching ambitious bike share systems of their own, including Los Angeles with 4,000 bikes, Chicago with 3,000 bikes, San Francisco with 500 bikes, and Columbus with 300 bikes.
Bike advocacy group Transportation Alternatives is keeping a positive outlook. "New Yorkers are eager for this new transportation choice but we all know the damage Hurricane Sandy wrought on our city," TA Executive Director Paul Steely White said in a statement. "We're thankful the storm spared so much of the equipment and grateful to see the program will still launch in the spring."
Meanwhile, be sure to check out OpenPlans' amazing CiBi.Me bike share trip planner where you can check out all the planned bike stations and plan your most efficient trip across the city by Citi Bike.

After the sad news back in August that New York City's already-delayed bike share system—Citibike—would be delayed until the spring of 2013, we'd almost forgotten about the thousands of bright blue bikes that have been in storage at the Brooklyn Navy Yard while computer glitches are worked out. The apparently-cursed bike share system is back in the news, however, as the New York Times reports that some of the equipment was damaged during Hurricane Sandy when the East River inundated waterfront Brooklyn.
Floodwaters up to six feet deep apparently damaged program equipment including the docking stations, but the NYC Department of Transportation would not comment on the extent of the damage or whether it would cause further delays in launching the system. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan told the Times, "We're working on it." Some believe the electronic design of the docking stations could make them especially vulnerable to flooding.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this morning on his morning radio show that New York City's forthcoming CitiBike bike-share program—already mired with delays caused by software problems—would be further delayed until at least next spring, confirming rumors that the system's bugs weren't being worked out quickly enough. On his radio show, the mayor delivered the bad news, "The software doesn't work, duh." He maintained that, "we are not going to put out the system until it works." The highly anticipated program is set to become the largest is North America when it opens and was a signature piece of the mayor's bike infrastructure plan for the city.
Software problems have been a reoccurring problem for recent systems operated by Portland, Oregon-based Alta Bicycle Share. Earlier this month, officials announced that Chicago's bike share system, expected to be second only to New York's in North America, was delayed until 2013 and a recently-launched 300-bike system in Chattanooga, TN has also been experiencing computer glitches. New York's system was originally to be rolled out in July, but, for now, the bike-share stations remain in storage at the Brooklyn Navy Yard where they were assembled.
Following the mayor's comments, the NYC Department of Transportation released a timeline outlining the updated schedule for the system, calling for 7,000 of the 10,000 bikes and 420 stations to hit selected streets in Manhattan and western Brooklyn by March of 2013.

If everything had gone according to plan, New York's highly anticipated bike-sharing system called Citi Bike would be in full swing. Unfortunately, earlier this month the city announced that a computer software glitch had pushed the opening back until August. While we can handle waiting one more month, rumors that the planned 10,000 bright blue Citi Bikes might not hit the street until next year had us alarmed.
An unnamed source told the New York Post—never a cheerleader of the system—today that bike-share operator Alta might need more time to fix the problems and has asked for millions in funding ahead of schedule. The source said that if the system isn't in place by October, it could end up in storage until spring 2013.
NYC Department of Transportation spokesperson Seth Solomonow denied the rumors, telling the Post, "That is inaccurate...We are working on a plan to launch the system." StreetsBlog pointed out Tuesday that Chattanooga, TN went live with their 300-bike system after a short delay using the same bikes and kiosks as New York, hopefully portending the software problems can be worked out soon.
Meanwhile, bike-advocacy group Transportation Alternatives is planning a bike-share celebration in late August, and tickets are still available. Also check out CiBi.Me, a bike-share trip planner indicating bike lanes and stations across the city that will have you prepared once Citi Bikes are finally launched across New York.

We've been anxiously waiting for the city to drop off the planned 10,000 Citi Bikes—after all, there will be 82 bikes parked just outside AN's HQ in Lower Manhattan!—as part of NYC's bike share system originally slated to open this month. Our dreams of riding with the wind in our hair were crushed, or at least postponed, when system operator Alta began surreptitiously tweeting news of the delay: “Look for the launch in August.”
When the bike share system is complete, 10,000 bright-blue bicycles will be scattered throughout three boroughs, docked at 600 stations located in Manhattan, Long Island City, and a healthy chunk of Brooklyn from Downtown Brooklyn to Bed-Stuy and north through Greenpoint.
The bikes and stations are being assembled at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and with 20,000 tires to inflate, we're willing to give them a little slack. In the meantime, check here for public demonstrations being staged around the city, where you might just land yourself a free helmet.

Beginning this July, thousands of bright-blue Citibikes will begin swarming the streets of Manhattan and eventually Brooklyn and Long Island City, Queens. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYCDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan made the formal announcement today that Citibank has signed on as the official sponsor for the city's new bike share system.
Ten thousand Citibikes located across 600 stations will be deployed across the city over the following year, making the system the largest in the United States. Citibank has committed $41 million over the next five years to jumpstart the program, with MasterCard chipping in another $6.5 million, meaning no public money will be required to launch the system. "We're getting an entirely new transportation network without spending any taxpayer money," Bloomberg said. "Who thought that could be done?"
An annual pass for the system will cost $95.00, with weekly passes at $25.00 and daily passes $9.95. A map of official station locations will be released soon and additional information can be found on the Citibike web site.